Corpus-NCR held two gatherings recently. On December 1 some forty people took part in a liturgy and potluck supper and Norma and Jim Noonan’s home. Since the liturgy celebrated the First Sunday of Advent, the shared reflections focused on the role of the liturgical year and how to make this central in our lives when we live in a society which for the most part knows only January 1 as the beginning of the new year.

The meeting was graced by the presence of Joe and Yvonne Cashen from Mississauga. A member of the Coordinating Team of Corpus Canada, Joe spoke to the group of his work on the next Corpus Conference, and was assured by several Corpus-NCR members of their support and readiness to help in his preparations for the Conference.

On January 5, the eve of the Epiphany, we held our annual Christmas party in the usual location ­ the lounge of the condominium of Maurice and Claudia Sullivan. This year we were blessed by mild weather, and had a turnout of about sixty people. Those present at the potluck supper included members of CCO (Concerned Catholics of Ottawa) and CNWE (Catholic Network for Women’s Equality) as well as those from Corpus-NCR.

One of the highlights of the evening was the grace composed and recited by our co-host Maurice Sullivan. The grace was remarkable for the way in which it combined Maurice’s knowledge of theology, history and cosmology. Because of the special nature of the grace, it is reproduced here in its entirety:

Giving Thanks for the Christmas Journey and Beyond

Let us give thanks
For the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem 2000 years ago,
For the journey of the Magi, the angels and the shepherds,
For the journey of Jesus, Mary and Joseph into Egypt, For the journey of Jesus throughout his public life and For the journey of Jesus through his death and resurrection.

Let us give thanks
For the journey of the Christian Churches over the past 2000 years and
For the journey of all the world’s religions over the past 5000 years.

Let us give thanks
For our journey to human consciousness over the past five million years,
For the journey of the animals, the birds and the flowers over the past 65 million years,
For the reptilian journey of the dinosaurs over the past 250 million years.

Let us give thanks
For the journey of the fishes and the plants over the past one billion years,
For the journey of the clouds, the rain, the rivers, the lakes and the mountains over the past two billion years,
For the journey of the microscopic cells and bacteria over the past three billion years.

Let us give thanks
For the journey of our planet earth and solar system over the past five billion years,
For the journey of our Milky Way Galaxy over the past ten billion years and,
For the journey of the quarks, the atoms and all the galaxies over the past 15 billion years,

And finally, let us give thanks For the journeys of light and our expanding universe And all the other journeys Which reveal to us
The elegant creativity, the boundless generosity
And infinite mystery of God. Amen!